OK, now hopefully you guys remember the little crossover
events of 1999 and 2000 where SNK and Capcom made signed a deal
to make a crossover game, Capcom vs. SNK, on a couple of there
own systems. The agreement was, that SNK promised to release a
few Capcom vs. SNK games on there own systems, Neo-Geo, and
Neo-Geo Pocket Color. Im not sure, but I believe they never
got around to releasing the Neo-Geo version, but on the Neo-Geo
Pocket Color they released 3 types of games. They did SNK vs.
Capcom, the standard fighting game. And two versions(capcom and
SNK) of SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash. Which was a
trading card game that was made in the middle of the Pokemon
playing card craze. Any ways, SNK went out of business in North
America in June 2000, and people werent all that happy
after finding that out, but they still had to look forward of
Capcoms version of the crossover game coming out within a
few months. They did the Arcade and Dreamcast versions of Capcom
vs. SNK, and millions of people couldnt wait much longer.
Well we now got the ultimate crossover on the Dreamcast, so will
it live up to the standards? Lets get onto the review and
find out.

Graphics

Capcom still had the sprites here of all the characters, but
they look better than ever. It looks like a good chunk of all the
Capcom fighters (actually theyre all from Street Fighter,
and SNKs are all from The King of Fighters) looks like they
got a complete make over, and they look way bigger, and even more
detailed, than those 16-bit sprites you would see in Marvel vs.
Capcom 2. The backgrounds have a nice opening sequence to them
before you start off each battle. The backgrounds themselves look
great, although they arent in real 3-D like the ones in
Marvel vs. Capcom 2. You got traditional backgrounds from the old
Street Fighter and King of Fighters games, plus a couple of new
ones like a car wreck, and a construction site. The animation
over all the moves is just beautiful and better than ever. When
Ryu does his hadoken, you can really see all the force he puts
into it. And yes, the slow motion finishes look the best of all
the Capcom fighters ever! With all that action going on screen,
you would think there would be some slowdown? Well, there is
virtually no slowdown whatsoever in the game. So the graphics are
nearly perfect, with the only downside being that you would wish
Capcom would finally go to some 3-D animated fighters.

Sound

All the classic Street Fighter and King of Fighters voices and
music are here. From the classic chants of Ryu throwing his
dragon punch to Kyos fireball, they are all here. And they
all sound identical to their previous games, so dont feel
left out. The games background music is a mix of old tunes
from previous SF and KoF games, with a few new ones for added
flavor. They fit the tone of the game right, and will add to the
excitement. Sound effects are the same as previous games,
traditional basic stomp sounds for punches and kicks, and the
classic ugh when the player is knocked out.

Game play

Controls are pretty easy to learn, with or without an arcade
stick if you have one. You got the same basic controls as the
other games, with low and high punches and kicks. You also got
some special charge move by pressing two buttons simultaneously.
As always, controls are customizable to your liking. I was so use
to pressing the L & R triggers at once to do the Hyper Combos
in Marvel vs. Capcom 2, that I was completely mixed up that
wasnt the same way here. Instead, to do your Hyper/Super
Combo, you do a button combination that requires a few more
button sequences than usual, but the damage it pulls off, is
worth it. Now there are two special added controls: Capcom and
SNK groove. All it does is just a special way to control your
combo meter. The Capcom groove is just like it is in previous SF
games where you combo meter raises as you deal and take more
damage, and it raises from level 1, to 2, 3, and then max, where
you can do various hyper combos and different levels. The SNK
groove is just the same way, but you can raise your combo meters
by simply holding High Punch & High Kick at the same time,
which is much like rasing Kai in the Tekken games.

For modes of play, we got the main arcade mode, where you can
choose pairs of 1-4 fighters on a team to fight in a team battle
type of playing style. You beat a few teams, and go against the
various bosses from the SNK and Capcom worlds. As you win more,
you gain more vs. points which are used in the secret shop to buy
secret costumes, stages, and characters. You also got training
mode where you can practice against a dummy to perfect your
moves. Theres also a vs. mode where you and a friend can go
at it for fun as long as you want. Then theres a new Game
Replay mode where you can save the middle of a fight and continue
it later, and view battle data. Then you got the secret shop mode
where you buy hidden costumes, characters, and stages earned in
the games other modes. And finally, theres a really
neat color edit mode where you can change the colors and patterns
of the fighters in the game to your choosing, but you need an
extra VMU file to save Color Edit and Game Replay data.

Replay Value

This is where the game really shines. Since the game is two
player, you can always be battling a friend once you are all done
with the main arcade. And you can keep playing the main arcade
mode to beat your own high scores. Still getting tired of the
game? Then mess around in the Color Edit for a while and see what
wacky designs you can come up with the guys in the game. This
game is also the second only game to make use of the Neo Geo
Pocket Color/Dreamcast Cable Link, where you can transfer Vs.
points acquired in SNKs Neo Geo Pocket Color Game, SNK vs.
Capcom: Match of the Millennium. The other game, for you people
wondering, to make use of this feature was SNKs only North
American Dreamcast published title, King of Fighters Dream Match
99 (Really KoF 98 with some enhancements), which
transferred data between Dream Match 99, and King of
Fighter R-2 for NGPC.

-: Really wouldve hoped for some 3-D computer animated
fighters, those hyper combos can be really hard to pull off than
they seem

The Final Ratings Rundown

Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.9
Game Play: 9.2
Replay Value: 9.1

Overall: 9.3

Rounded to fit GameFAQs score: 9

Comments

This game lived up to the hype that surrounded it, but came
in a little too late in my opinion, over a year after SNKs
NGPC version of the game. But the game is a blast to play, and
the extra modes will keep you occupied for hours on end. If
youre looking for a realistic 2-D fighter on the Dreamcast,
pick up this, or youll regret it.